The Night Mail

[TheQ]

Being ex military I still park in reverse almost everywhere, if you didn't leave a vehicle ready to drive off you got a sever ear bending... It saves fuel too, doing all that manouvering with a cold engine uses much more fuel..

I've pointed out that error at several shows with people having ww2 military layouts, you don't want to be trying to reverse out in a hurry when someone is dropping things on your head.

 

[jjb1970]

I find it much easier to reverse in, the extra manoeuvrability of rear steering. If people make the effort to learn they'd find it just a much better way to do it.

[jamie92208]

9 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

I find it much easier to reverse in, the extra manoeuvrability of rear steering. If people make the effort to learn they'd find it just a much better way to do it.

That's why various types of vehicles usually have rear wherl steering.  Fork For lift trucks and combine harvesters . are two that come to mind.  The geometry  works much better with the vehicle effectively pivoting about the centre of the front axle.  

 

Jamie

[polybear]

8 hours ago, SM42 said:

Oops nearly forgot

 

Here is today's locomotive, Ol49 - 69 during the run round in  Leszno.

 

 

It still seems a little odd that in 2022, steam is still hauling regular public timetable services 

 

Andy

 

Those ploughs on the front would make great additions to Police Vans - clearing Just Stop Oil Protesters would be a cinch.

 

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

That's why various types of vehicles usually have rear wherl steering.  Fork For lift trucks and combine harvesters . are two that come to mind.  The geometry  works much better with the vehicle effectively pivoting about the centre of the front axle.  

 

Jamie

 

With Forklifts I suspect it's more to do with the fact that you're often carrying a heavy load at the front end - having the front wheels steerable would make for an accident waiting to happen.

 

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

With Forklifts I suspect it's more to do with the fact that you're often carrying a heavy load at the front end - having the front wheels steerable would make for an accident waiting to happen.

Where is everybody?

[Oldddudders]

9 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Where is everybody?

They just left, RLF - running like f.....

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

Where is everybody?

Don't worry, it's not been fused!

[newbryford]

19 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I can't speak for Newbryford, but in my experience as an ADI, I spent proportionally more time teaching people to reverse rather than driving forward when you take into account how long the test is and how much time you spend using reverse gear during that time.

 

The reversing exercise(s) is not proving you can reverse around a corner, do a turn in the road or reverse park into a bay it is to demonstrate you can safely control the the vehicle whilst moving in a confined area, whilst keeping up a good level of observation around the vehicle.

 

A manoeuvre which should have been taught, but tended to be confined to those driving vans was the right reverse around a corner.  You had to pull onto the rhs of the road just past the junction and then reverse around the corner (in the direction of normal traffic flow).  You then proceeded to continue to reverse down the road until it was safe to drive away and regain the correct side of the road prior to the junction at the end.

 

I was given this to do on my ADI Part 3 examination by an examiner called John Sheridan (Now the DVSA's Driver Training Policy Manager). He was based at Wolverhampton for some years and had a reputation which was magnified beyond all proportion so it struck fear into trainees who were tested by him.  He also put the fear of God into more than a few qualified instructors, when it came to him conducting the tests of continued proficiency.

 

 

 

 

 

Reversing around a corner to the left to a test standard (when it used to be part of the test) went a long way to teaching the pupil how a vehicle acts when going backwards over a reasonable distance.

 

Rightly or wrongly, I would say to my pupils that it would be unlikely that they would ever reverse around a corner like that in "real life", but doing it to the higher standard would serve them well.

 

My office window now overlooks a quiet corner and I often see local instructors doing a reverse corner manoeuvre as it would then set them up for parallel parking along a quiet-ish road.

 

Reverse around to the right was part of my ADI part 2 test and also a MIDAS minibus test.

(Part 2 was the driving test and part 3 was the teaching test.)

 

The standards check test was feared by many of my fellow instructors.

I could never carry out a normal lesson whilst the examiner was sat in the back.

Whilst I was doing the job, it changed to a risk/hazard based test which was far more like a real lesson and I found them far less pressurised.

 

I now have vehicle (Ford Ecosport) with a rear door that opens sideways and reverse parking in a car park - particularly a multi-story - means that I can't access the back door.

The local Tesco has a wall, but a low crash barrier just in front of it that is less than 2" below the back door, so I can open it there!

 

On a golf club car park, I always park in forwards so I can easily chuck the clubs in after a bad round......

[The White Rabbit]

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Where is everybody?

 

Sarge's Wisdom:

 

"Five second fuses last about three seconds."

 

"If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him..." 

 

"You, you, and you ... panic. The rest of you, come with me." 

 

 

[SM42]

Eventful day today. 

 

Tank museum, shooting range ( TT pistol, Mosin and AK47), commonwealth war graves and Cytadela military museum

 

Along with 47  other  Great Escape murder victims buried there, this probably one of  the most well known.

 

 

A most sombre place in the drizzly rain that accompanied us today wherever we went. 

 

 

Andy

Edited October 22, 2022 by SM42

[simontaylor484]

At the council we had to reverse in to the TLS (transfer loading station) it was unnerving reversing from daylight into near darkness. It greatly improved my reversing skills 

[Gwiwer]

14 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I find it much easier to reverse in, the extra manoeuvrability of rear steering. If people make the effort to learn they'd find it just a much better way to do it.

I reverse-park almost every time.

 

In our block parking area (with the rear as close to the fence as I can get without touching - in case the Cat thieves come around) because it’s a slightly fussy reverse-out move if you go nose-in. In on-street bays. And generally anywhere else unless Exception 1 or 2 appy

 

Exception 1: a car park where I can drive forwards in and forwards out of the bay either because two facing bays are vacant when I arrive or because there is only a single row of bays with a direct drive-out making a reverse-in unnecessary. 

 

Exception 2: any other situation where reverse-parking would be very much more difficult than front-in or impossible. 
 

I learned my driving when you were taught reversing around a corner both right and left, three-point turns and reversing up a hill. 
 

The first vehicle I actually drove was a Leyland Titan “Queen Mary” PD3 double-decker bus. And my first ever move was to reverse it off the pit and park it. All under very close supervision of course and within (private land) garage limits but you’d never get away with that today no matter how friendly you were with the staff. 
 

Before I had ever driven a car I had also driven 11.3m Leyland Nationals and 30-foot manual-shift Bristol saloons with the heaviest and most ponderous of manual gear-linkages ever. 
 

So when I “graduated” to learning in a car I had the basics under my belt. My instructor was a little surprised that I double-declutched between first and second but soon picked up that this wasn’t my first time behind the wheel. 
 

If you can reverse-park a bus at night within garage confines amd without previous experience you can probably go on to drive most things safely. 

[SM42]

I always reverse park at the supermarket, unless it is very quiet and you can drive through the space to effectively reverse park without reversing. 

 

We have no issues with access to the boot as I always choose a space backing onto the disabled/ parent and child bays, meaning plenty of room to get the trolley through. 

 

Likewise always reverse onto the drive. A good habit picked up from dad and it was easier to see around the tree the council had planted on the verge. 

The tree was also a good marker for lining yourself up to reverse in. 

 

Mrs SM42 however always drives in forwards onto the drive and reverses out.  ( it is much easier given the angle of approach off the road)

 

It seems to be a cultural  thing though, park forwards and reverse into traffic.

Most of the bays here are designed as forward in.

 

Reversing in just confuses the locals.

 

Andy

[polybear]

5 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

"If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him..." 

 

 

A certain Bear has a t-shirt with "Bomb Disposal Expert - if you see me running try and keep up" on it.

[jjb1970]

7 hours ago, SM42 said:

Eventful day today. 

 

Tank museum, shooting range ( TT pistol, Mosin and AK47), commonwealth war graves and Cytadela military museum

 

Along with 47  other  Great Escape murder victims buried there, this probably one of  the most well known.

 

 

A most sombre place in the drizzly rain that accompanied us today wherever we went. 

 

 

Andy

 

For anyone visiting Singapore, it is well worth making the effort to visit the Kranji war memorial and cemetry to pay respects to the Commonwealth servicemen who died in the battle of Singapore and subsequent occupation. As you'd expect, the commonwealth war graves commission has done a first-class job looking after it and the Singaporean people treat it with a lot of respect.

Edited October 23, 2022 by jjb1970

[AndyID]

I don't know about you but I am prone to bouts of rather violent sneezing 😀   Fortunately they usually do not last too long.

 

I had one this evening and Shona, our 14 year old Scottie who pretty much ignores me unless she wants fed, was clearly quite concerned and immediately came up to see me.

[AndyID]

First snow at Lookout Pass!

(I have a season ticket for the ski area 😀 )

 

Although we are quite close to the border with Canada we are about the same latitude as the Austrian Tyrol.

[Happy Hippo]

This morning it would appear to be rather wet outside.

 

I haven't dared open the curtains yet, but you can clearly hear the rain driving against the windows.

 

Perhaps I'd better go back to bed and pretend I didn't get up.

 

Indoor activities would be best advised today.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Happy Hippo

[Oldddudders]

58 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

This moprning it would appear to be rather wet outside.

Sherry was woken at 3 by a very violent thunderstorm, the worst she's known in Torquay, and rain of Biblical proportions. She looked out and the road was a torrent! It all seems to have gone away so she will get across the green to church. We had a few minor showers here in Sarthe, but it is quite pretty now in the sun, and still delightfully mild. Heating has hardly kicked in all week. 

[Happy Hippo]

My not so cunning plan for the rest of the day is to demolish an old cupboard.  It has very little in it and is only really used as a table top.

 

Of course, being old and ancient it is solid timber so would make a very nice source of some hardwood planking.

 

I do have plenty of space in the timber stack for such a wonderful addition and it would clear up quite a bit of floor space.

 

I have to do this, as I am under somewhat of an obligation to get a car into the garage now we have the new and wonderful roller doors fitted.

 

Once the car has gone in, stayed in there for the weekend and been driven out, there is absolutely no requirement for it ever to go into the garage again!

[Winslow Boy]

2 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

My not so cunning plan for the rest of the day is to demolish an old cupboard.  It has very little in it and is only really used as a table top.

 

Of course, being old and ancient it is solid timber so would make a very nice source of some hardwood planking.

 

I do have plenty of space in the timber stack for such a wonderful addition and it would clear up quite a bit of floor space.

 

I have to do this, as I am under somewhat of an obligation to get a car into the garage now we have the new and wonderful roller doors fitted.

 

Once the car has gone in, stayed in there for the weekend and been driven out, there is absolutely no requirement for it ever to go into the garage again!

 

So its a bit of Show and Tell really. Your going to show willing that the car will fit in the garage and then tell everyone that car did fit in the garage.

[rockershovel]

Odd sort of story in the news feeds this morning that does no real credit to anyone involved. 

 

The gist of it seems to be that someone reserved a first class seat from Aberdeen to London, but found it was one of the "priority seats" for elderly or disabled. Someone else then appeared, demanding the seat on the grounds if being, you guessed it, elderly. Train conductor, whatever they are now called was of little help but DID inform the original traveller that no refund would be offered if they gave up the seat. 

 

A general exchange of unpleasantries appears to have followed, to no useful outcome. 

 

Do Train Companies REALLY allocate "priority seats" and make a non-refundable charge for the reservation? If so, what is the expected outcome? (I'm excluding XC from this following my experiences in Plymouth) 

 

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

7 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

So its a bit of Show and Tell really. Your going to show willing that the car will fit in the garage and then tell everyone that car did fit in the garage.

The garage is looking emptier than usual because I've neglected to bring my chop saw and compressor back from the summerhouse which is a very convenient place to store things at the moment.

 

As it has yet to be commissioned into service, it is not under scrutiny from higher command.

 

I have to keep two steps ahead when it comes to storage.

 

I need to remove old and decrepit cupboards, and evaluate what the contents are worth to me.

 

Then replace them with the shelving, which I already have in another part of the garage.

 

However, I also need to plan this around the locations of a coup[le of additional power points (No good putting them where they would be inaccessible or inconvenient to use).  The garage floor also needs a repaint, so I need to plan the moves around this.  Absolutely no point in double or even treble handling stuff, although there will come a point at which some of my racking will have to be unloaded, moved and then the floor area underneath painted, before putting anything back.

 

I should use this time wisely to evaluate whether the stuff on the racking is needed anymore, which might create some more space.

 

Perhaps what I ought to do is just get another shed!🤣

[br2975]

BR (WR) Efflew Valley branch tracklaying comes to a temporary halt today.

.

Returning the 'grand-dog' to its mother (owner) in Pontyclun.

.

Whereby I shall force myself to watch my beloved Bluebirds delivered of a footballing lesson by the noisy neighbours from the other side of the Briton Ferry Bridge.

.

Whether I return to the man cave is dependent upon the result. 

[Oldddudders]

Briton Ferry? Jersey Marine? Originating places for freight trains to Norwood Yard 50 years ago. They seemed an awfully long way away.....